Plenty of non-Jews played an important role in the Jewish story this year. And what better time to highlight them than now?

Actress Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in a scene from the second season of ‘Homeland,’ filmed in Israel. Photo by AP

Whether they made us cheer, bang our heads against the wall, wish they were Jewish or thank God that they’re not, this year had plenty of non-Jews who played an important role in the Jewish story. And what better time to highlight them than now, in this season of best-of lists and holiday cheer?

• Begrudged mazel tovs greeted news in August that Benjamin Millepied had wed Natalie Portman, one of the most desirable Jewish women in Hollywood. Millepied, the French-born choreographer who prepped Portman for her Oscar-winning turn as a troubled dancer in the 2010 hit “Black Swan,” donned a yarmulke and wrapped himself in a tallit for the ceremony, held underneath a chuppah in Big Sur, Calif. Among the attendees was the couple’s year-old son, Aleph.

• Thanks to Claire Danes, Americans have not only fallen in love with an adaptation of an Israeli TV show, but they’ve learned that Tel Aviv is the world’s “most intense party town.” Danes portrays the bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison on the critically acclaimed Showtime series “Homeland,” which had parts of its second season filmed in Israel.

• After a far-right Hungarian politician called for Jews to be screened as potential security risks, the deputy speaker of the country’s parliament, Istvan Ujhelyi, led colleagues in wearing yellow stars during a parliamentary session as a sign of solidarity with the country’s Jewish community. Ujhelyi said he did not believe he had Jewish roots, but that he would be proud if it turned out he did.

• When the International Olympic Committee denied repeated requests to have a moment of silence at the 2012 London Summer Olympics honoring the 40th anniversary of the murder of 11 Israelis at the Munich Games, NBC sportscaster Bob Costas took it upon himself to remember the slain athletes and coaches. As the Israeli delegation entered the stadium for the opening ceremonies, Costas summarized the controversy and then went silent for several seconds in his own moment of silence.

• After music legend Stevie Wonder backed out of a commitment to perform at a benefit for the Israel Defense Forces in Los Angeles in December, bowing to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists, the Grammy Award-winning singer Chaka Khan took his place. Khan performed several of her signature hits at the gala, which wound up raising $14 million to support the well-being of Israeli soldiers.

• For Brian Flynn and Ryan Parry, reporters for the British tabloid The Sun, it’s never too late for justice. The duo tracked down suspected war criminal Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary, 97, leading to his arrest in Hungary in July on charges of helping to send 15,700 Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan organization creating and implementing strategies to improve the quality of Jewish life in Canada and abroad, increase support for Israel, and strengthen the Canada-Israel relationship.

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